Last week, we spent the evening at Scale for this year’s Tech Climbers Liverpool list reveal.
It’s one of those events that gives you a clear view of what’s actually happening on the ground. Not the headlines, not the polished case studies, but the reality of building something from scratch and trying to make it work.
This year, over 60% of applications came from first-time founders. That points to a growing confidence in the Liverpool City Region, but also to something else. More people are stepping into building, often without a clear roadmap and figuring it out as they go.
The Reality Behind “High Growth”
There’s a tendency to talk about scale as if it’s a clean, linear process.
In the room, it felt very different.
Founders spoke openly about long weeks, about the effort that goes unseen, and about how rare it is for that work to be recognised. Others talked about the moment when the problem they’ve been focused on finally lands with other people.
That recognition matters more than it’s often given credit for. It’s usually the point where things start to move.
Across the conversations, there were a few clear stages playing out at once:
- Early-stage teams still working out how to explain what they do
- Founders moving from building into raising, where time gets pulled away from the product
- Scaling businesses trying to maintain momentum while everything around them becomes more complex
None of it felt particularly neat. All of it felt real.
The Common Thread: Articulation
One thing came up again and again. Not a lack of ambition. Not a lack of substance. But a challenge in clearly articulating what the business does and why it matters.
You could see it in early pitches still being shaped. In founders testing messages through cold outreach and pilots. In the shift from a technical explanation to something that actually lands with a wider audience.
And when it does land, the difference is immediate.
Traction becomes easier. Conversations move faster. The right people start to pay attention.
What’s Being Built
The range of businesses in the room was broad, but a few moments stayed with us:
- A founder building sensory accessibility tools so people can better understand how a space will feel before they enter it.
- A product that started as a vaping cessation app and evolved into something supporting SEN students, driven by lived experience.
- Deep tech companies working on material supply chains, carbon reduction and energy security, tackling challenges that are only becoming more urgent.
- Edtech founders asking a simple question that doesn’t always get enough attention: does this genuinely make a teacher’s life easier?
These are practical, positive changemaking responses to real problems.
The Role of the Ecosystem
Programmes like Tech Climbers don’t operate in isolation.
As highlighted on the night, the partner network around it plays a significant role in helping businesses move forward. Organisations like Sciontec, Rathbones, Brabners and RSM are providing the kind of support that founders need at the right moment.
Access to advice, networks and funding is still one of the biggest accelerators of growth.
When that support is visible and accessible, it changes who gets to build and scale.
Where Tuesday Media Sits in This
Spending time in rooms like this reinforces something we see across our work.
There are a lot of strong businesses that are harder to understand than they should be. Not because the idea isn’t clear internally, but because it hasn’t yet been translated into a story that travels.
That gap matters.
It affects how quickly a business gains traction, who pays attention, and how opportunities show up.
The work, for us, sits in that space. Helping founders and teams articulate what they’re building in a way that reflects the substance of it and connects with the right audience.
Looking Ahead
The ambition across this year’s Tech Climbers cohort is clear.
So is the range of problems being tackled.
The next phase for many of these businesses won’t just be about building. It will be about being understood.
And that’s often where the real momentum starts.
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